compiled by Christine Mitchell

What Jesus Meant. By Garry Wills. (Viking, 2006.) In current public debates, people on the political left and political right cite Jesus as endorsing their views. Wills argues that Jesus subscribed to no political program-he was far more radical than that. In a fresh reading of the gospels, Wills explores the meaning of the "reign of heaven" Jesus not only promised for the future but brought with him into this life. He offers a new understanding of Jesus and the Scripture.

New England's Moral Legislator:  Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817.  By John R. Fitzmier.  (Indiana University Press, 1998.) Grandson of Jonathan Edwards, president of Yale College, Timothy Dwight was a major figure in the Second Great Awakening of American Protestantism.  For the author, the key to imagining Dwight's life as a whole is to be found in his religious system, "godly federalism."

How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West.  By Perez Zagorin.  (Princeton, 2003.) From a time when Christianity embraced a policy of religious persecution, crushing dissent and heresy, the author traces how this position had roots in certain religious and intellectual traditions before he shows how out of the same traditions came the beginnings of pluralism in the West.

Prayer is a Place:  America's Religious Landscape Observed.  By Phyllis Tickle.  (Doubleday, 2005.) A leading authority on religion and spirituality in America, the author recounts the changes she witnessed from 1992 to 2004, a period she compares to the tumultuous years of the Reformation.

The Case for Gay Rights:  From Bowers to Lawrence and Beyond.  By David A. J. Richards.  (University Press of Kansas, 2005.) Eloquent and impassioned, Richard's work crystallizes the essence of the argument for a much more expansive and tolerant view of gay rights in America.

Inhuman Bondage:  The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World.  By David Brion Davis.  (Oxford, 2006.)  In this definitive history, the author offers a compelling narrative linking together the profits of slavery, the pain of the enslaved, and the legacy of racism. 

The Tent of Abraham:  Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.  By Joan Chittister, OSB, Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti, & Rabbi Arthur Waskow.  (Beacon Press, 2006.) Written by three religious leaders, the book explores the mythic quality and the teachings of reconciliation that are embedded in the Torah, the Quran, and the Bible.  It employs the story of Abraham from these sacred texts to weave together the wisdoms of these traditions into a deeper, more unified whole.

Taking Back Faith: Heretical Thoughts for a New Century. By Matthew Tittle, MDiv '04.  (!Universe, Inc., 2006.) This book is a collection of sermons by the minister of the Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston.

With Vision and Courage:  Starr King School for the Ministry.  By Arliss L. Ungar.
(!Universe, Inc., 2006.) Ungar chronicles the 100-year journey of Starr King School for the Ministry and its vision of educating people for religious leadership, especially Unitarian Universalist ministry, through student-centered, participatory learning that combines intellectual excellence, practical experience and deepened self-awareness